THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE   COLLECTION  OF 
NORTH   CAROLINIANA 


C378 
UK  3 
18U3H 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00036720888 


This  book  musf  not 
be  foken  from  the 
Library  building. 


1 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2010  witii  funding  from 

University  of  Nortii  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hil 


http://www.archive.org/details/addressdeliveredhill 


AN  ADDRESS 

DELIVERED    BEFORE    THE 

TWO  LITERARY  SOCIETIES, 

OP     THE 

UNIVERSITY    OF    NORTH   CAROLINA, 

ON    THE    DAV    PRECEDING    THE 

ANNUAL   COMMENCEMENT, 

IX    JUXE,    1S43, 

UNDER    THE    APPOINTMENT    OP    THE 

DIALECTIC  SOCIETY. 

BY    DOCTOR  JOHN    HILL, 


Pnblislied  by  order  of  iaid  Society, 


RALEIGH  : 
PRINTEB  BT  WESTON  R.  OALES-^-BAXETGn  REGISTER  OFFICE, 


1843. 


Dialectic  Hall,  July  22d,  1843. 
Dear  Sm : — At  a  meeting  of  the  Dialectic  Society  held  on  Friday  night,  the  21st 
of  Jul}',  the  undersigned  were  appointed  a  Committee  to  tender  you  the  thanks 
•f  that  Body  for  the  very  elegant  and  able  Address  delivered  before  the  two 
Literary  Societies  on  the  day  preceding  Commencement,  and  to  re  quest  a  copy 
of  the  same  for  publication. 

Permit  us  Sir,  to  express  the  gratification  felt  during  its  delivery,  and  to  add 
our  personal  solicitations  to  those  of  the  Society  we  represent. 
With  the  highest  esteem, 

Your  obedient  servants, 

ROB.  H.  COWAN,  Jr.  ") 
ED.  D.  COVINGTON,    I  Committee. 
THOS.  RUFFIN,  Jr.     J 
Dr.  John  Hill. 


Wilmington,  N.  C.  July  31s/,  1843. 
Gentlemen  : — Your  very  kind  letter  of  the  22d  inst.  came  to  me  rather 
unexpectedly,  and  found  me  without  a  copy  of  the  Address.  It  is  in  the  pos- 
session of  my  friends,  and  as  yet  I  have  not  been  able  to  demand  it.  As  soon 
as  I  do,  and  my  health  permits,  I  will  send  you  a  copy  to  be  disposed  of  as  you 
may  think  proper.  I  had  expected  no  other  disposition  of  it  than  it  should  be 
•decently  interred  in  the  archives  of  our  Society,  and  still  think  that  our  mutual 
interests  will  be  subserved  by  giving  it" that  direction.  I  claim  no  privilege 
however,  of  controlling  it,  and  with  this  mere  expression  of  my  preference,  and 
a  deep  sense  of  the  friendly  and  courteous  terras  of  your  note, 
I  am  gentlemen,  with  great  regard,  your  friend, 

JOHN  HILL. 
Rob.  H.  Cowan,  Jr.  Ed.  D.  Covington,  Tho.  Ruffin,  Jr. 


Wilmington,  N.  C.  Attgust  15th,  1843. 
Gentlemen  : — The  causes  mentioned  in  my  last  have  continued  to  produce 
delay,  and  not  until  the  present  moment  have  I  been  able  to  comply  with  your 
request,  and  to  enclose  you  my  Address.  I  felt  too  sensibly  the  compliment 
designed  me,  and  the  very  kind  terms  in  which  it  was  conveyed,  to  permit 
unnecessary  postponement,  but  the  copy  of  which  I  spoke  was  only  recovered 
on  Saturday  last. 

With  very  sincere  regard,  your  friend, 

JOHN  HILL. 
Rob.  H.  Cowan,  Jr.  Ed.  D.  Covington,  Thos.  Ruffin,  Jr. 


ADDRESS. 


Gentlemen  of  the  Philanthropic 

AND  Dialectic  Societies: 

This  time-honored  Anniversary  is  full  of  feeling  and  instruction.. 
The  past,  the  present,  and  the  future,  crowd  upon  our  excited 
fancies ;  the  avenues  of  memory  are  thronged  with  the  spectres 
of  departed  joys,  and  the  past  is  full  before  us,  with  its  hopes,  its 
fears,  and  its  excitements. 

The  familiar  crowd  that  once  answered  to  our  greeting — the 
chosen  few  who  shared  our  sympathies,  and  warmed  us  with  their 
friendship— the  thoughts,  the  feelings  and  impressions  of  happy 
boyhood — the  thousatid  misty  incidents  over  which  the  curtain  of 
time  was  fast  closing,  are  brought  back  to  us  in  their  beauty  and 
freshness,  and  we  stand  upon  the  theatre  of  "our  earliest  efforts  re- 
juvenated and  buoyant,  the  halo  of  young  life  brightening  around  us. 

We  are  assembled  the  Representatives  of  the  past,  to  give  to  the 
aspirants  of  the  future,  the  benefits  of  our  experience.  We  have 
travelled  over  more  than  half  the  journey  of  life,  and  are  approach- 
ing its  inevitable  goal.  We  return  from  its  anxious  cares,  its 
agitating  conflicts,  its  poor  employments  and  its  low  ambition,  to 
the  scenes  of  our  earliest  and  best  enjoyments,  the  soothing  bosom 
of  our  venerable  Alm.a  Mater;  not  indeed  as  once,  to  find  shelter 
under  her  shades,  brothers  in  every  walk  and  the  ringing  laugh  of 
happiness  around  us;  not  to  participate  in  by-gone  joys,  nor  to  sit 
at  her  bubbling  fountains  and  quaff  the  pure  waters  of  knowledge; 
but  to  speak  to  you  of  the  scenes  in  which  we  have  mingled  and  to 
which  we  once  looked  forward  from  these  walls  with  expectations 
as  bright,  eager  and  restless  as  your  own.  Shall  I  tell  you  what 
were  our  young  hopes,  and  how  they  have  been  realized  ?  Our 
dreams  of  friendship,  till  the  silken  cord  was  rudely  snapped,  or 
worn  away  by  time?  Ambition  checked  in  its  Eagle  flight,  and 
struggling  with  its  chains,  till  thefiery  soul  exhausted  and  subdued, 
sunk  to  the  patient  drudge  ?  Even  woman's  smile,  and  the  blan- 
dishments of  love,  bringing  no  thrill  to  the  weary  and  jaded  heart } 


Why  speak  of  dangers,  you  can  neither  realize  or  beheve — why 
shake  the  pillars  of  your  moral  faith — why  damp  the  ardor  of 
your  young  minds,  or  cast  a  cloud  over  the  bright  heaven  of  your 
hopes?  I  will  not;  the  moral  is  written  in  letters  of  light,  and 
who  has  been  taught  by  the  sufferings  and  experience  of  others  ? 
You  must  gather  around  you  the  memories  and  the  warnings  of 
your  own  conflicts.  Your  past  will  be  the  best  preacher  to  your 
future ;  and  the  lesson  full  soon  will  reach  you.  If  the  golden 
fruit  turns  to  ashes  on  your  lips,  and  the  leaves  wither  from  your 
tree  of  hope,  while  the  breath  of  tlie  morning  is  upon  them  ;  if 
fruition  here  teaches  you  that  the  world  has  nothing  to  satisfy  the 
ardent  longings  of  your  divine  natures,  wearied  in  the  fruitless 
search,  it  may  point  you  to  the  glories  and  beatitudes  of  immor- 
tality. 

But,  gentlemen,  against  these  moral  revulsions,  to  which  the 
■finer  and  purer  of  our  kind  are  more  peculiarly  liable,  you  are  novv 
making  the  best  preparation,  next  to  our  holy  Religion,  which  this 
world  is  capable  of  afiorditig.  You  are  disciplining  your  minds,  by 
patient  research,  to  the  arduous  duties  which  are  before  you.  You 
are  training  them  to  philosophy  and  reason.  You  are  imbuing  them 
with  the  spirit  and  love  of  literature — you  are  laying  up  intellectual 
treasures,  and  enlarging  all  your  capacities  of  enjoyment.  Believe 
me,  these  are  resources  which  can  scarcely  fail  you.  Betrayed  by 
the  world  and  wounded  by  the  bosom  on  which  you  leaned — your 
afi'ections  paralyzed,  and  your  faith  in  human  nature  gone,  a  culti- 
vated taste  and  the  charms  of  literature  will  remain  to  you,  and 
you  will  find  in  the  bright  creations  of  poetry,  and  the  sterling 
truths  of  philosophy,  a  refuge  and  a  consolation  which  the  embit- 
tered heart  may  refuse  to  receive  elsewhere. 

But  important  as  they  are,  reflections  like  these  are  not  new  to 
you,  and  I  must  not  press  you  to  repletion.  It  may  be  as  useful, 
certainly  as  appropriate,  to  review  the  progress  of  letters,  and  to 
trace  briefly  the  developement  of  mind.  The  subject  I  know  is  of 
immense  magnitude,  and  beyond  the  limits  of  an  occasion  like 
this.  If  I  can  win  your  interest,  excite  a  spirit  of  investigation, 
stimulate  your  energies,  and  direct  your  enquiries,  my  objects  are 
answered. 

I  need  scarcely  tell  you,  that  the  origin  of  letters  and  of  social 
tefinement,  is  hid  in  fable,  and  veiled  in  the  mystery   of  time. 


5 

The  claims  of  India  to  these  proud  honors  are  generally  conceded, 
but  Europe  has  been  reluctant  to  acknowledge  her  obligations  to 
Asia,  and  whether  the  tide  flowed  in  from  the  East,  is  still  an  un- 
settled question.  I  shall  not  pretend  to  decide  it.  Yet  we  know 
that  with  the  Jews  "the  wisdom  of  the  East"  was  a  proverb,  and 
that  the  oldest  Historians  of  Greece,  speak  of  India  as  an  old  and 
populous  country,  abounding  in  the  luxuries  of  wealth  and  the 
refinements  of  social  progress.  But  the  remains  of  Hindoo  civili- 
zation, her  pagodas  and  temples,  her  shattered  porticos,  prostrate 
obelisks  and  moss-grown  sculptures,  are  existingevidancesof  her  lost 
refinement  and  mournful  monuments  of  its  high  antiquity.  Yet 
replete  with  interest,  as  is  the  history  of  this  gentle,  delicate, and 
plastic  people,  I  must  not  pause.  The  little  rill  thus  rising  in  the 
dim  and  misty  heights  of  fable, struggles  onward  through  a  thousand 
obstacles,  from  the  sunny  plains  of  Ilindostan,  gaining  volume  and 
current  as  it  spreads  through  the  land  of  the  Pyramids  and  Nile  ; 
flowing  forward  bright,  bold  and  majestic,  through  the  lovely  and 
classic  groves  of  Greece,  bearing  on  its  bosom  the  wisdom  of  her 
lawgivers,  the  sweet  soft  voice  of  her  philosophy,  her  matchless  elo- 
quence, and  her  imperishable  poetry,  till  it  burst  upon  the  Roman 
world,  vivifying  Europe  and  receiving  into  its  foaming  channels 
the  myriad  tributaries  of  her  splendid  genius  and  her  hardy  industry. 
The  early  periods  of  Roman  history  afford  us  few  subjects  for 
observation.  It  was  at  first  a  struggle  for  mere  existence  and  then 
for  political  dominion.  There  was  more  of  barbarian  energy,  of 
rude  power,  of  strong  indomitable  will,  than  of  intellectual  progress 
and  refinement.  She  had  existed  more  than  three  hundred  years, 
subject  to  all  the  uncertainties  and  disorders  of  traditionary  Laws, 
before  she  adopted  a  written  code,  and  borrowed  the  twelve  Tables 
from  Greece.  This  was  a  triumph  of  mind,  and  afforded  food  for 
still  further  acquisitions,  but  she  had  little  leisure  for  the  cultiva- 
tion of  elegant  literature.  The  aggrandizement  and  security  of 
political  power,  still  absorbed  her  energies,  and  it  was  not  till  the 
end  of  ihe  first  Funic  war,  that  the  repose  of  peace  brought  a  passion 
for  the  taste  and  elegancies  of  Grecian  models,  and  infused  into  the 
masculine  and  martial  genius  of  Rome,  their  meliorating  and  refin- 
ing influences.  There  was  now  as  little  pause  in  her  progress  to 
mental,  as  to  political  dominion.  Africa,  Asia  and  Greece,  all 
became  her  tributaries^  and  poured  into  her  bosom  the  treasures  of 


their  wealth  and  the  refinements  of  their  civilization.  Taste,  genius 
and  ambition,  flocked  to  her  for  employment  and  display,  and  the 
bright  satellites  of  mind  revolved  around  their  sun,  shedding  a 
crowning  glory.  And  Rome  gave  back  some  of  the  benefits  she 
received.  Her  conquests  were  not  like  those  of  Greece,  deadly 
and  exterminating.  She  received  the  conquered  into  the  pale  of 
her  society,  placed  them  under  the  ^Egis  of  her  power,  made  them 
the  children  of  her  ilhjstrious  family,  continued  to  them  the  refine- 
ments which  they  possessed,  and  extended  to  them  those  which 
were  peculiarly  her  own. 

Soon  after  the  extinction  of  the  Roman  Republic,  when  the  arms, 
of  the  Empire  were  embracing  the  fairest  portions  of  the  known 
world,  blessing  them  with  its  language,  its  literature  and  its  insti- 
tutions, the  benign  influences  of  Christianity  were  added  to  the 
existing  elements  of  refinement,  and  governments  were  moulded 
to  the  dignity  and  importance  which  it  gave  to  man,  as  a  moral  and 
immortal  Being.  A  brutal  and  a  sensual  Paganism  is  superseded 
by  the  august  revelations  of  the  most  high  God,  and  a  religion,  the 
deformed  offspring  of  human  reason,  aspiring  to  the  mysteries  of 
heaven,  by  the  sublime  inspirations  of  Deity.  The  human  mind  is 
awakened  to  its  high  destinies — society  acknowledges  a  new  and 
meliorating  principle  of  refinement,  and  reaches  a  height  of  civili- 
zation which  the  world  never  before  witnessed.  But  this  colossal 
fabric  trembled  with  decrepitude  and  inherent  weakness.  It* 
strength  was  in  its  cities,not  in  itsvirtuous  yeomanry — public  virtue 
and  public  intelligence  languished — love  of  self  had  superseded 
Jove  of  country — an  empire,  the  wonder  of  the  world,  was  verging 
to  its  close — its  days  of  glory  were  numbered,  like  the  leaves  of 
the  Syl)il,  seeming  to  increase  in  value  as  their  number  diminished, 
and  Cato's  virtue  and  TuUy's  eloquence  were  alike  impotent  to 
redeem  the  fortunes  of  Rome  or  the  destinies  of  mind.  The  bar- 
barian came — wave  after  wave  poured  in,  province  after  province 
yielded,  wall  after  wall  is  broken  down,  the  Goth,  the  Vandal  and 
the  Hun,  thunder  at  her  gates,  Rome  is  Rome  no  longer,  and  Odoa- 
cer  sits  upon  the  throne  of  the  Caesars. 

Then  came  the  long  night  of  intellect,  when  man  was  satisfied 
with  the  toys  of  sense,  and  absorbed  with  the  baubles  of  imbe- 
cility. I  have  no  desire  to  grope  in  its  morar  darkness,  or  to 
dwell  upon  the  disgusting  prostration  of  mind  which  followed  the 


subversion  of  the  Roman  Einplre.  It  was  the  triumph  of  brute 
force,  rioting  with  demoniac  madness  in  its  conquest  over  civili- 
zation, and  destroying  all  the  achievements  of  genius, all  the  memo- 
rials of  a  refinement  that  it  despised  or  envied.  But  there  was 
conservatism  in  the  Christian  Church.  The  rude  barbarian  paused 
before  the  majesty  of  her  temples,  and  shrunk  from  the  desecration 
of  her  sacred  altars.  Hidden  in  her  secret  sanctuaries,  the  rich  treas- 
ures of  past  ages  were  preserved  tou's,to  reluminemind  and  to  stimu- 
late its  progress.  Yet  cheerless  and  gloomy  as  were  the  middle 
ages,  the  7th  century  has  been  called  the  Nadir  of  the  human  mind, 
and  until  the  close  of  the  11th  century,  it  was  difficult  to  find  a 
layman  who  could  write  in  Europe.  It  was  the  age  of  tournaments 
and  chivalry,  of  empty  pageantry,  aimless  enthusiasm,  and  sangui- 
nary strife,  when  the  mind  ran  wild  with  its  own  vacuity,  and  dallied 
with  the  sense  still  it  lost  all  note  of  its  immortal  destiny;  when  the 
song  of  the  Troubadour  was  the  highest  eflort,and  lady  love  the  best 
reward  of  genius.  In  England  too,  where  we  have  been  accustomed 
tolookfor  all  that  is  venerable  in  language, refined  in  intellectorvast 
in  genius, English  was  seldom  written  even  in  prose,  before  the  mid- 
dle of  the  14lh  century.  The  earliest  English  work.  Sir  John 
Mandeville's  travels,  was  written  in  1556,  and  Chaucer,  the  first 
of  her  Poets,  appeared  in  1 392.  Then  the  progress  of  mind  spread 
onward  with  electric  force,  and  in  less  than  two  centuries,  Shakes- 
peare sat  and  still  sits  upon  the  throne  of  English  genius,  the  delight 
and  ornamentof  mankind.  The  general  introduction  of  paper,  and 
the  discovery  of  Printing  about  the  middle  of  the  15th  century, 
terminated  most  happily,  may  we  not  say  forever,  the  barbarism, 
humiliation  and  wretchedness  which  had  so  long  hung  its  pall  over 
Europe,  and  threatened  to  take  from  man  the  divine  characteristic 
of  his  nature.  The  fetters  of  ignorance  were  broken.  Books  were 
multiplied  and  became  the  inmates  of  the  humble  cottage  as  well 
as  of  the  lordly  Palace.  Prejudice,  superstition  and  power  were 
impotent  longer  to  curb  the  unchained  mind,  and  it  sprung  upward 
like  the  lark,  to  the  very  gates  of  Heaven,  carolling  its  soHgs  pf  joy 
and  thankfulness. 

Modern  Europe  and  modern  Literature  date  from  1500,  whea 
Grenada  was  added  to  Spain,  and  Brittany  to  France,  p&rfecting 
those  kingdoms,  and  establishing  the  fixed  and  independent  gov- 
ernments which  at  present  exist.     The  chains  of  the  feudal- sys- 


tern  too  were  broken,  commerce  was  exerting  its  healthful  influence 
upon  the  intelligence  and  personal  independence  of  man,  a  new 
class  was  springing  up,  ardent  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge,  jealous 
of  its  rights,  and  zealous  to  win  an  honorable  position  in  the  scale 
of  society.  Stability  and  order  are  fenced  around  with  new  guar- 
anties, the  security  of  man  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  privileges,  and 
in  the  exercise  of  his  powers  is  increased  to  him,  he  feels  the  with- 
ering debasement  which  had  sunk  him  to  the  level  of  the  brute, 
and  in  the  majesty  of  disinthralled  mind,  shakes  from  him  the  palsy 
and  the  blight  of  ignorance  and  passion.  Erasmus  was  the  great 
leader  in  philological  warfare.  To  his  genius  and  ardent  love  of 
letters,  are  we  mainly  indebted  for  the  restoration  of  learning,  and 
for  its  humanising  influence  over  the  late  barbarians  of  Rome.  It 
was  garlanding  the  Gothic  column,  with  the  tasteful  capital  of 
Corinth — engrafting  on  the  hardy  children  of  the  North,  all  the 
elegance  and  erudition  of  the  softer  South. 

Then  came  the  Reformation,  the  collision  of  powerful  minds 
impelled  by  the  most  powerful  of  causes — the  bold,  resolute  and 
untiring  Luther — the  amiable  and  learned  Melancthon,  imbued 
with  all  the  garnered  wealth  of  antiquity,  and  lecturing  on  Greek 
and  Latin  Literature  at  IG  years  of  age — the  daring  Calvin,  un- 
compromising as  Luther,  and  learned  as  Melancthon,  throwing 
down  every  barrier  to  free  inquiry,  and  teaching  a  corrupt  and 
licentious  Priesthood  that  age  cannot  sanctify  abuse,  and  that  there 
were  no  subjects  too  sacred  for  the  bold  and  full  investigations  of 
mind.  Add  to  these  the  discoveries  of  Columbus,  and  of  Vasco  De 
Gama,  opening  new  fields  of  enterprize,  speculation  and  science, 
and  we  have  a  singular,  nay  almost  providential  combination  of 
causes,  for  the  establishment  of  a  new  era,  and  the  impulsion  of 
mind. 

But  it  is  to  the  developement  of  English  mind,  and  the  progress 
of  English  Literature,  (which  are  our  own)  that  1  must  confine 
myself.  I  can  but  glance  at  results  and  deal  in  generalities.  And 
if  the  reign  of  the  Tudors  was  cold,  bloody  and  remorseless,  we 
must  remember  that  the  sea  was  still  working  with  the  physical 
disorder,  the  moral  and  intellectual  tempest,  which  had  followed 
the  dead  calm  of  the  mediseval  ages,  and  society  but  beginning  to 
be  adjusted.  The  times  perhaps  required  a  hard  and  iron  nature 
to  rule  and  direct  the  movement,  and  it  may  have  been  to  the  firm- 


Bess  of  their  grasp  uj)on  the  reins  of  government,  that  we  owe  the 
social  order  and  the  rapid  developement  of  mind  which  marked  the 
period.  Tiie  age  of  Elizabeth,  of  Spencer  and  Shakspeare,  has  been 
compared  to  that  of  Augustus,  of  Horace  and  Virgil, and  it  may  be  well 
to  mark  the  analogy  between  tliem.  The  civil  wars  of  Marias  and 
Sylla,  of  Pompey  and  Coesar,  of  Lepidus,  Anthony  and  Octavius. 
with  all  ther  sanguinary  horrors,  were  ended  by  the  firm,  despotic 
rule  of  Augustus,  and  followed  by  a  splendor  of  intellect  which 
still  throws  its  halo  around  tlie  Empire,  and  survives  its  glories. 
In  England,  the  no  less  blody  enormities  of  the  Houses  of  York 
and  Lancaster,  were  closed  by  the  5upremacy,  the  cold  and  calcu- 
lating firmness  of  the  1st  Tudor,  and  the  dull  night  is  succeeded 
by  the  bright  rnorriing  of  genius.  The  Faery  Queen,  and  the  Ve- 
nus and  Adonis,  appeared  about  1590,  and  the  creative  mind  of 
Shakspeare  poured  forth  its  matchless  treasures  with  a  rapidity 
almost  equalled  to  its  dazzling  splendor.  Where  are  the  Titans  of 
genius  that  now  stand  before  him — where  the  vigor  and  variety 
of  imagination — the  deep  knowledge  of  the  human  heart,  which 
seemed  almost  the  gift  of  inspiration  ?  There  are  none,  none  ! 
The  power  and  the  beauty  of  past  ages  seem  to  have  been  trans- 
fused into  his  great  and  all  combining  intellect,  and  he  still  stands 
out  from  the  host  of  genius,  sublime  and  inapproachable,  the  oracle 
of  nature  and  its  pride. 

We  might  have  mentioned,  the  gentle,  the  intellectual,  the  un- 
fortunate Lady  Jane  Gray,  so  embalmed  in  our  best  and  earliest 
sympathies,  and  who  was  as  much  a  prodigy  of  learning,  as  of  purity 
and  virtue.  Nor  should  we  omit  "  rare  Ben  Jonson,"  as  much 
above  Shakspeare  in  acquirements,  as  below  him  in  genius.  A 
little  further  on,  and  the  vast  and  philosophical  mind  of  Lord  Bacon, 
bursts  upon  us,  prying  into  the  mysteries  of  nature  and  seeking 
revelations  from  her  hidden  shrines  by  his  inductive  method  ; 
the  leprous  spot  which  rests  upon  his  fame  almost  washed  clean 
by  the  sanctity  of  his  genius,  and  the  calamities  of  age  softened  and 
relieved,  by  the  munificent  appreciation  of  his  country. 

If  within  the  space  of  a  little  century,  the  literature  and  genius 
of  England  achieved  triumphs  like  these,  if  from  a  state  of  disgust- 
ing barbarism,  she  sprung  at  once,  like  JVIinerva  from  the  brain  of 
Jove,  into  the  full  fruition  of  intellectual  power,  who  shall  dare 
limit  the  conquests  of  mind,  who  place  the  barriers  of  her  bound- 


10 

less  capacities  ?  Who  will  now  sneer  at  the  confidence  of  Bacon 
in  the  power  and  reach  of  the  human  intellect — who  say  that  '•  he 
placed  the  ultimate  object  of  philosophy  too  high  above  the  reach 
of  man?"  Since  his  day,  the  black  cloud  has  been  robbed  of  its 
fearful  bolt,  the  vivid  lightning  of  its  arrow}'  danger.  The  recent 
discoveries  of  animal  and  vegetable  developemcnt,  the  application 
of  the  microscope  to  chemical  and  organic  transitions,  the  improve- 
ments of  science,  and  the  enlargement  of  the  ciicle  of  knowledge, 
which  are  daily  occurring,  are  beyond  the  dreamings  of  Bacon's 
enthusiasm,  and  should  arouse  us  to  inci'eased  energy  and  ceaseless 
assiduity.  l"hc  divine  emanation  of  Deity,  who  shall  clijj  its 
wings,  or  chain  it  to  the  vile  clay  which  profanes  it?  Who  say, 
that  we  may  not  enter  into  the  vestibule  of  nature's  temple,  and  it" 
we  may  not  lift,  gaze  upon  the  curtain  that  hides  her  mysteries? 
The  eloquent  dreamings  of  Priestly  and  De  Stael,  that  through  the 
portals  of  wisdom  we  approach  the  temple  of  human  perfectibility, 
may  be  but  the  bright  illusion  of  enthusiastic  genius,  yet  the  uni- 
versal liberation  of  mind,  its  new  incitements  to  application,  the 
prompt  diffusion  through  the  Press  of  its  every  acquisition,  the 
progress  of  science,  and  the  blaze  of  light  which  at  the  present  day 
is  shed  upon  subjects  which  but  yesterday  were  shrouded  in  doubt, 
or  hid  in  darkness,  may  well  kindle  our  hopes  of  the  grasp  of  intel- 
lect, and  stimulate  us  to  hang  new  trophies,  on  the  Corinthian 
pillar  of  polished  improvement. 

But  we  must  proceed  with  our  review.  In  this  age,  which  in- 
cludes the  1st  of  the  Stuarts,  there  was,  we  must  confess,  more  of 
the  vigor  and  splendor  of  genius,  than  of  the  refinement  and  deli- 
cacy of  taste.  But  it  had  gotten  rid  of  the  jargon  of  the  Schools 
and  of  polemical  divinity,  which  had  so  fiuitlessly  occupied  the 
attention  and  engrossed  the  efforts  of  mind,  and  the  public  eye 
became  fixed  upon  the  literature  of  the  ancients.  And  let  no  one 
gainsay  its  importance  ;  in  this  presence,  at  least,  its  defence  were 
bootless.  If  there  was  one  cause  paramount  to  the  rest,  for  the 
moral,  political  and  intellectual  regeneration  of  Europe,  it  was  the 
treasury  of  knowledge  which  antiquity  had  laid  up — it  was  the  mod- 
els of  a  refined  and  cultivated  taste — the  high  mental  progression  of  a 
past  age,  preserved  to  illustrate  the  true  dignity  and  capabilities  of 
man,  to  show  him  what  he  had  been,  what  he  was, and  what  heshould 
be,,  and  to  point  to  the  fountains  where  to  drink  and  be  restored. 


II 

The  civil  wars  and  convulsions  which  marked  the  reign  of  the 
1st  Charles,  and  the  gloomy  fanaticism,  and  absorbing  political 
excitement  of  tlie  Commonwealth,  turned  aside  for  a  moment 
the  current  of  taste,  and  checked  the  progress  of  literature  and  sci- 
ence. But  in  the  midst  of  this  frenzy  and  disorder,  this  mixture 
of  passion,  hypocrisy  and  superstition,  with  cool  decision,  high 
achievement  and  elevated  patriotism,  the  divine  mind  of  IMilton, 
disciplined  by  age,  poverty  and  misfortune,  and  perhaps  purified 
in  the  alembic  of  anarchy  and  revolution,  gave  to  his  country  his 
sublime  E[)ic,  rivaling  the  noblest  efforts  of  ancient  or  modern  ge- 
nius, and  throwing  upon  his  nam^e  a  flood  of  light  which  will  shine 
on  forever. 

The  licentiousness  of  the  Court  of  tlie  2d  Charles,  cast  its  pollu- 
tions over  the  host  of  bright  minds  tb.at  might  have  illumined  it, 
mistaking  profanity  for  wit,  indecency  for  truth  to  nature,  corrupt- 
ing all  tbie  fountains  of  taste,  and  giving  us  to  mourn  over  the  fine 
but  perverted  genius  of  Dryden.  Yet  if  literature  languished,  and 
imagination  soiled  her  bright  wing  in  the  impure  atmosphere  of 
vice,  science  received  an  impulse  from  Boyle  and  a  crowning 
glory  from  the  masterly  mind  of  Newton  which  it  is  destined  to 
wear  forever.  Theirs  was  the  true  philosophy,  high  above  the 
affected  stoicism  of  the  porch,  or  the  licentious  softness  of  the  gar- 
den, untouched  by  surrounding  depravity,  ranging  with  eagle  eyo 
the  reilms  of  thought,  and  "looking  through  nature  up  to  nature's 
God." 

"  Philosophy,  baptized 
In  the  pure  fountain  of  eternal  love,  has  eyes  indeed." 

The  progress  of  mental  illumination  in  the  reign  of  the  Stuarts^ 
is  illustrated  in  the  lives  of  fiussell,  Sidney  and  Hampden,  in  the 
constant  struggle  of  liberty  agiinst  power,  and  a  juster  appreciation 
of  the  dignit}'  and  rights  of  man.  Tlie  suppression  of  the  star 
chamber,  and  the  removal  of  restraints  upon  the  freedom  of  the 
Press,  were  vast  conquests  achieved  for  man,  and  mind  had  now 
few  fetters,  but  public  opinion  and  its  own  moral  convictions. 

It  is  not  important  to  our  inquir}'  to  dwell  upon  the  Revolution, 
and  the  election  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  to  the  throne  of  England. 
It  was  an  era  in  politics,  and  with  the  Bill  of  Rights,  brought  fur- 
ther concessions  to  the  side  of  liberty.  But  he  was  warlike,  ambi- 
tious and  unlettered,  had  few  sympathies  with  the  people  he  wag 


12 

called  on  to  govern,  and  did  little  for  the  promotion  of  literature 
or  science.  Taste  however  was  reviving,  there  was  a  deep  feeling 
of  religion  and  morality  ahout  William,  which  curbed  licentious- 
ness ;  and  the  equable  and  bloodless  reign  of  his  successor,  and  her 
matronly  virtues,  gave  an  impulse  and  a  cast  to  intellect,  and  pro- 
duced a  constellation  of  genius,  which  has  rarely  clustered  in  the 
firmament  of  mind.  The  English  language  was  at  once  raised  to 
its  present  dignity  and  perfection,  and  the  writers  of  that  period 
still  retain  the  proud  distinction  of  the  "  British  Classics."  There 
were  Addison,  Steele  and  Swift,  Arbuthnot, Prior,  Ga}^  Pope,  the 
master  of  melodious  metre,  Thompson  formed  by  nature's  self  to 
sing  her  glories,  the  versatile,  depraved,  but  nobl}' gifted  Boling- 
broke*,  so  esteemed  by  the  younger  Pitt,  that  amongst  all  the  lost 
treasures  of  the  past,  he  preferred  to  rescue  one  specimen  of  his 
eloquence.  What  age  can  boast  of  names  like  the.sc,  sparkling 
with  wit,  brilliant  with  imagination,  imbued  with  erudition,  capti- 
vating with  eloquence  ?  If  not  as  illustrious  as  Shakspeare  and 
Milton,  together  they  form  a  galaxy  of  genius,  \vhich  the  mental 
eye  delights  to  dwell  upon. 

The  period  of  time  that  has  since  elapsed,  has  no  cause  to  shrink 
from  comparison  with  any  that  preceded  it.  It  is  illustrious  with 
genius,  and  signalized  by  its  loftiest  efforts.  The  progress  of  mind 
has  still  been  onward,  with  every  thing  to  quicken  its  energies, 
and  develope  its  powers.  Every  field  of  literature  has  been  made 
to  bring  forth  its  annual  harvest  in  rich  abundance;  every  de- 
partment of  science  tortured  of  its  secrets  by  the  microscope  and 
crucible  of  sleepless  genius.  We  are  indeed  blest  with  an  illumi- 
nation rich,  luminous  and  mellow,  and  marked  b}'"  strong  and  hope- 
ful features  of  yet  further  Improvement.  The  age  is  advancing  in 
purity  of  sentiment  and  refinement  of  taste,  and  no  longer  tolerates 
the  grossness  and  obscenity  of  the  past.  Sensuality  Is  driven  to 
its  brothel,  and  hides  Its  orgies  In  its  lowest  depths,  and  literature 
comes  to  us,  clad  in  robes  of  unstained  whiteness,  breathing  the 
influences  of  christian  refinement,  and  delighting  us  with  the  force, 
the  Imagination,  the  high  Inspirations  of  poetry  without  its  defile- 
ments. Compare  the  writers  of  the  last  fifty  years,  even  with 
those  of  "  good  Queen  Anne,"  and  the  truth  is  obvious. 

But  In  Science,  which  is  endless   in  progression,  increasing  it? 
rewards  at  every  step  of  Its  patient  votary,  and  beckoning  him  still 


13 

forward  to  new  conquests  over  the  dominion  oi  nature,  the  present 
age  is  rich  in  acquisition  and  boundless  in  prospect.  Nor  is  it  sur- 
prising that  it  should  he  so.  To  the  delineation  of  natural  objects, 
the  portraiture  of  the  passions,  and  the  eflbrts  of  the  imaginaiian, 
there  may  be  a  limit  and  elevation  beyond  which  we  may  net 
mount.  The  Poets,  the  Orators,  the  Painters  of  antiquity,  we  may 
liave  rivalled,  but  not  excelled.  Homer  and  Demosthenes  still  sit 
upon  their  thrones,  the  Olympic  garlands  fresh  upon  Jheir  brows. 
But  in  physics  and  the  various  departments  of  science,  it  is  other- 
wise. We  collect  materials,  we  lay  up  facts, and  build  monuments 
higher  and  more  enduring  than  the  pyramids.  All  of  value  ihat 
belonged  to  the  past  is  ours.  Truths  laboriously  won  from  na- 
ture, are  eternal.  They  are  incorporated  into  the  frame-work  of 
Society,  and  become  identified  with  the  sentiments  and  habits  of 
the  age.  Acquisitions  thus  made,  whether  in  the  geography  of  the 
heavens  or  earth,  in  chemistry,  religion  or  political  economy,  hold 
their  places.  Another  and  another  is  added,  each  throwing  gleams 
of  light  upon  a  darkened  truth,  till  genius  seizes  and  combines 
them,  tears  away  the  veil  that  curtains  the  mystery,  and  some  beau- 
tiful and  eternal  problem  of  nature  stands  revealed. 

"  Hark  !  the  rusning;  snow  ! 

'•  The  sun-awakened  avalanche  !  whose  mass 

"  Thrice  sifted  by  the  storm,  had  gathered  there 

"  Flake  after  flake,  in  heaven  defying  minds 

"  As  thought  by  thought  is  piled,  till  some  great  truth 

"  Is  loosened,  and  the  nations  echo  round, 

"  Shaken  to  their  roots,  as  do  the  mountains  now." 

Nations  are  contending  with  nations,  in  exploring  the  fields, and 
adding  new  discoveries  to  the  realms  of  science.  From  steam  we 
have  conquered  another  agent  to  quicken  and  assist  investigation. 
Mind  is  at  work  upon  magnetism,  and  who  can  foretell  the  issue? 
Daily  some  new  light  breaks  upnn  us  from  nature's  temple,  to  hum- 
ble and  confound  our  philosophy,  and  the  understanding  itself 
stands  incredulous  and  appalled  before  the  mystery  and  the  splen- 
dor of  her  revelations.  And  yet,  the  further  we  advance,  the 
deeper  seem  her  mines  of  wealth,  and  the  stronger  our  convictions 
of  the  poverty  of  our  acquisitions. 

It  is  a  field,  gentlemen,  which  is  worthy  of  your  genius,  and 
which  invites  you  to  the  harvest,  with  every  faculty  enlarged^  dis- 
siplined  by  study,  and  hardened  and  invigorated  by  labor.     It  h 


14 

rich,  teeming  with  rewards,and  you  can  gra.spthem.  But  you  must 
come  prepared  for  conquest,  every  nerve  swelline;  by  industry  and 
application,  every  faculty  burning  wiih  enthusiasm,  and  throwing 
with  lens-lilie  power  their  concentrated  rays  upon  the  hidden  point. 
The  enervate  and  feeble  will  fall  by  the  wayside — the  strong, 
the  resolute  and  hardy  will  trample  on  their  weakness.  Here, 
upon  this  spot,  you  must  decide,  whether  you  will  contend  for  pri- 
zes, nobler  than  ever  graced  Olympic  conqueror.  Nature  yields 
not  her  secrets  to  the  laggard;  personal  effort  is  the  price  of  excel- 
lence ;  toil,  assiduous  api)lication,  can  alone  win  for  you  the  victo- 
ries of  mind.  The  man  of  genius,  without  industry  and  indomita- 
ble will,  is  Prometheus  bound  to  the  rock,  the  vulture  forever 
gnawing  at  iiis  heart.  Like  the  caged  Eagle,  he  may  beat  his  wings 
upon  the  ii'on  bars  of  his  prison,  but  can  never  mount  to  the  bright 
empyrean  of  his  aspirings. 

Let  me  pray  you  then,  that  now,  while  the  opportunities  are 
yours,  prepare  yourselves  for  the  proud  and  manly  work  which  is 
before  you.  You  must  not  be  lured  by  the  soft  seductions  of  re- 
pose— "  the  perfume  and  the  suppliance  of  a  minute" — nor  content 
"with  the  poor  mediocrity  of  Sloth.  The  fire,  the  tumult,  the 
energy  of  intense  action  is  around  you.  You  must  join  the  strife 
or  ingloriously  forfeit  its  rewards,  and  take  the  brand  of  imbecility. 
Your  College  has  been  asked  for  her  illustrious  sons,  for  the  names 
that  reflect  her  renown.  Your  State  has  been  called  the  '•  Rip 
"V'an  Winkle"  of  the  confederacy.  Protect  them,  if  you  love 
them,  from  the  unworthy  jeer  and  the  derision.  Your  whole  coun- 
trv  has  been  sneered  at.  Europe  has  asked  "  where  is  your  Lit- 
erature and  your  Science  ?"  It  is  3'ours  to  vindicate  her  character, 
and  the  high  decision  must  now  be  made.  Upon  these  walls  you 
must  inscribe  yourselves  her  champions,  and  enlist  for  life,  in  the 
o-lorious  cause  of  patriotism  and  knowledge,  or  the  opportunity  is 
lost  to  you  forever.  The  same  bright  heaven  is  above  your  heads 
that  shed  its  glories  upon  Galileo  and  Newton;  the  same  infinite 
nature  around  you  that  has  opened  its  arcana  to  the  solicitations  of 
industry,  and  blest  it  with  immortality.  Your  magnificent  coun- 
try woos  you  to  investigation.  A  new  world  is  spread  out,  grand 
in  all  its  proportions,  and  demanding  enlargement  of  mind,  and 
immensity  of  powers  to  develope  its  resources  and  to  write  ila 
history.     The  proud    work  is  for  you  and  for  those  who  folIo',v. 


15 

The  field  is  so  rich,  so  varied,  and  so  boundless,  that  everv  variety 
of  intellect  may  be  occupied,  and  far  reaching  ambition  sated  of  its 
conquests. 

Well  hove  our  predecessors  borne  their  parts  in  the  stirring 
drama.  They  have  not  folded  their  arms  in  ignoble  ease,  nor 
merited  the  invidious  sneer  of  the  witling.  Vvilh  manly  firmness, 
resistless  energy,  and  enthusiasiic  enterprize,  they  have  devoted 
themselves  to  the  business  of  their  clay.  From  the  Savage  and 
the  wiklerness,  they  have  won  the  loveliest  domain  that  ever  blest 
the  industry  of  man,  in  soil  fruitful  as  the  gardens  of  the  Hesperi- 
des,  in  climate  varied  as  the  universe.  From  a  virgin  soil,  they 
have  supplied  the  workshops  and  ^ed  the  poverty  of  Europe. 
They  have  fought  the  glorious  battle  of  the  Revolution,  and  again 
a  war  for  national  lights  and  honor.  With  Roads  and  Canals,  the 
exemplars  of  the  age,  they  have  radiated  and  bound  together  their 
country,  consulting  at  once  the  social  convenience  and  political 
welfare  of  the  people.  They  have  set  in  motion  a  government, 
the  marvel  and  admiration  of  the  world,  whose  basis  is  the  virtue 
and  intelligence  of  the  People,  whose  end  their  happiness  and  im- 
provement. Recognise  this  truth  then  *' thdH^knovvledge  is  pow- 
er," and  religion  its  beacon  light. 
Think  not  that  Liberty 
From  Knowledge  and  Religion  e're  will  dwell 

*  Apart,  companions  they 

'  Of  Heavenly  seed  connate." 

Since  the  days  of  Bacon,  the  inestimable  truth  is  fixed,  that  all 
things  are  subject  to  reason  and  discussion.  The  people  are  the 
keepers  of  our  political  treasures,  yea,  the  solvers  of  the  great 
problem  of  the  fitness  of  man  for  self  government.  They  must 
not  lack  cultivation.  Train  then  your  own  hearts  and  minds. 
Send  the  stream  of  christian  education  leaping  and  laughing  through 
the  land.  Bathe  the  souls  of  our  entire  population  in  its  pure  waters 
of  knowledge,  and  you  have  crow^ned  the  work  of  your  Fathers, 
you  have  given  perpetuity  to  their  institutions,  we  are  free  for- 
ever, and  you  may  well  wear  the  unsullied  honors  of  your  Sires. 

If  within  little  more  than  three  score  years,  they  have  won 
trophies  like  these,  what,  gentlemen,  may  not  you  accomplish  in 
the  long  future  of  prosperous  repose  which  they  have  left  you  ? 
Your  opportunities  for  mental  culture,  are  far  beyond  any  that 
they  enjoyed  ;  your  responsibilities  are  such  as  have  seldom  fallen 


16 

on  men.  They  have  reared  a  noble  monument  to  their  virtues ; 
you  will  not  make  it  a  melancholy  mausoleum  for  your  degeneracy 
and  weakness. 

Gentleisien  or  the  Graduating  Class: 

The  duties  and  the  obligations  of  which  I  have  spoken,  attach 
peculiarly  to  you.  "  No  primrose  path  of  dalliance"  is  before  you. 
You  cannot  shrink  from  the  enforcement  of  your  high  destiny 
without  dishonor,  and  you  begin  the  struggle  with  every  thing  to 
inspire  confidence  and  hope.  Your  first  step  is  taken,  you  have 
won  the  meed  of  virtue  and  attainment,  and  your  venerable  mother 
sends  you  out,  with  her  blessings  and  her  honors  upon  you,  to  do 
battle  in  the  cause  of  virtue,  religion  and  letters.  Higher  motives, 
stronger  incentives  never  addressed  themselves  to  human  action. 

]\Iuch  depends  upon  your  beginning.  If  you  would  not  fail,  nor 
heap  coals  of  fire  on  your  heads,  nor  wither  the  clustering  hopes 
of  those  whose  affections  are  upon  you,  let  me  again  remind  you, 
that  success  is  the  fruit  of  labor,  and  untiring  application  the  price 
of  high  mental  distinction.  Listen  not  to  the  blandishments  of 
pleasure,  nor  to  the  sweet,  soft  voice  of  ease.  If  they  tell  you  that 
you  have  achieved  ah  era  in  your  lives,  and  that  some  of  your  gol- 
den hours  may  now  be  yielded  to  their  fascinations,  remember 
that  once  within  their  circle,  their  dreamy  net  around  you,  it  is 
dilhcult  to  free  3^ou  from  their  spell.  Hold  fast  the  literary  tastes 
and  habits  which  are  now  yours:  they  will  render  your  subse- 
quent efforts  more  easy  and  agreeable,  and  protect  you  from  a 
thousand  snares  which  lay  in  wait  for  inexperience.  The  wisdom 
of  the  world  is  not  hard  to  learn,  your  every  step  will  furnish 
you  a  lesson,  but  the  freshness  of  early  life  gone,  its  purity  of  sen- 
timent and  habit  lost,  are  found  no  more. 

The  transition  from  this  peaceful  retirement,  from  communion 
with  your  books,  and  from  the  watchful  guardians  of  your  educa- 
tion, to  the  world  and  its  active  duties,  is  indeed  an  epoch  in  your 
lives,  full  of  interest  to  you,  and  of  solitude  to  your  friends.  Who 
can  tell  the  influences  that  will  meet  you,  to  direct  your  outset  and  to 
color  your  future.  Embarked  upon  the  heaving  bosom  of  life,  its  en- 
grossing cares  and  distracting  pleasures  will  leave  you  little  leisure, 
either  to  improve  the  Literary  foundation  you  have  laid,  or  to  bui'd 
upon  it  the  glorious  superstiucture  which  your  generousand  sanguine 
youth  has  painted  for  you.     You  are  young,  have  abundant  time, 


17 

and  theoretically  it  would  seem  the  better  course  to  give  the  next 
years  of  your  lives  to  perfecting  the  system  which  has  been  here 
begun;  to  storing  your  minds  with  the  truths  of  Philosophy; 
the  love  of  History  ;  the  refining  influences  of  Poetry,  and  all  the 
garniture  of  elegant  literature.  It  would  be  giving  to  your  intel- 
lects a  power,  a  grace  and  a  maturity,  which  would  place  you  at 
once  by  the  side  of  those  who  have  preceded  you  ;  and  it  would  be 
arming  you  in  advance,  with  the  weapons  of  taste,  which  the  busi- 
ness of  the  world  may  never  leave  you  leisure  to  select.  But  the 
age  and  the  requirements  of  our  country  are  so  utilitarian — you 
are  surrounded  by  so  many  seductions — so  many  petty  objects  to 
win  you  away  from  secondary  pursuits,  and  jour  young  hearts  are 
so  panting  to  grapple  at  once  with  the  great  and  primary  objects  of 
your  lives,  that  I  would  advise  the  immediate  pursuit  of  your  pro- 
fessions. Literature, you  can  make  its  handmaid  ;  the  sweet  flower 
that  will  cast  its  perfume  on  the  worldly  waste;  the  elegant  recre- 
ation of  your  minds,  when  overwrought  and  wearied  by  technical- 
ities and  drudgeries  ; 

"Then  take  the  instant  way,      ^ 
"  Nor  hedge  aside  from  the  direct." 
Be  just  and  moderate  in  your  estimate  of  mankind.     Upon  our 
entrance  into  the  world,  we  are  apt  to  be  misled  by   the  impulses 
of  our  own  bosi -ns,  and  to  judge  of  others  by    the  ideal    standard 
which  has  been  erected  there.     Our  expectations  disappointed,  and 
our  credulity  abused,  we  must  guard  against  general  distrust,  and 
bitter  misanthropy.     Tliere  is  moie  of  weakness  than  of  wickedness 
in  man — of  disgusting  lolly,  than  of  unmitigated    baseness — more 
to  pity  than  to  j)unisn.     And  in   the  best,  the  web  of  our   nature 
is  of  a  mingled  yarn.     Amidst  many  golden  threads,  one  of  coarser 
texture  will  appear  to  disfigure  its   beauty,   but  not  to  destroy  its 
usefulness.     And  who  so  pure  as  to  sneer  at  the  common  infirmities 
of  man,  or  so  wise  as  to  say  it  were  better  it  had  been  otherwise  ? 
"  Our  virtues  would  be  proud,  if  they  were  not  whipt  by  our  vices, 
"And  our  vices  would  despair,  if  they  were  not  cherislied  by  our  virtues." 
Value,  then,  your  own  integrity  above  gold  and  priceless  rubies  • 
cherish   the  noble  endowments  which  nature  and  education  have 
given  you,  and  be  careful  that  their  lustre  be  not  dimmed  by  col- 
lision with  the  world  and  familiarity  with  its  vices.     Yet  think  not 
too  poorly  of  your  kind,  or  too  proudly  of  yourselves,  lest  it  place 


IS 

you  on  an  elevation  unreal  and  unsocial,  unwarmed  by  the  genial 
sympathies  of  life,  unblest  by  its  charities.  True  merit  is  ever 
indulgent  to  the  infirmities  of  others,  nor  forgets  "that  the  toad, 
ugly  and  venomous,  wears  yet  a  precious  jewel  in  its  head.'* 

Respect  for  the  rights,  and  sympathy  for  the  failings  and  mis- 
fortunes of  others,  are  the  constituents  of  refined  social  virtue. 
If  we  are  content  with  the  discharge  of  literal,  legal  obligations, 
we  have  learned,  it  is  true,  the  practice  of  common  honesty ;  but 
we  forego  that  enlarged  philanthropy,  those  sweet  amenities  and 
endearing  charities,  which  biess  at  once  both  giver  and  receiver, 
and  impart  to  the  harshness  of  life,  all  its  beauty  and  consolation, 
all  its  elegance  and  refinement.  The  glorious  sun  is  sufficient  for 
the  warmth  and  sustenance  of  nature,  but  a  beneficent  Creator  has 
decked  the  firmament  with  the  grandeur  of  his  starry  host,  and 
spread  upon  the  teeming  earth,  not  only  the  waving  grain  and  the 
purple  fruit,  but  the  verdant  carpet  and  the  perfumed  flower;  and 
they  are  lessons  of  divine  wisdom,  which  we  may  not  safely 
neglect. 

The  positive  requirements  of  society  cannot  be  foregone  without 
disgrace,  but  their  performance  brings  no  honor.  To  lie  is  to  be 
dishonored,  but  to  forbear  to  lie  is  no  glory.  The  high  merit  and 
the  glorious  excellence  consists  in  discharging  the  blessed  offices  of 
love,  courtesy  and  kindliness,  which  have  no  claims  but  upon  our 
sensibilities,  and  offer  no  rewards  but  to  our  affections.  These  are 
the  sweet  Seraphs  that  watch  over  our  moral  beings,  and  whisper 
to  us  of  the  divinity  and  immortality  of  our  nature — the  golden 
links  of  the  broken  chnin  that  bound  us  to  the  Paradise  of  God. 
You  may  pass  through  life  and  succeed  without  them  ;  you  may 
win  wealth,  reputation  and  distinction — but  wanting  these,  nor 
countless  hoards,  nor  splendid  talents,  nor  unblemished  honor  can 
bestow  upon  you  the  character  of  accomplished  Christian  gentle- 
men.    The  diamond  gives  no  light  but  from  its  polish. 

"  This  above  all,  to  thine  own  self  be  true, 

"And  it  must  follow  as  the  night  the  day, 

"  Thou  caus't  not  then  be  faUe  to  any  man." 


